On Sunday 23rd March, Germany hosts Italy in the second-leg of their Nations League quarter-final, with the victor facing off against one of Denmark or Portugal in the semi-finals.
Date: 23/03/2025
Location: Signal Iduna Park
Time: 7:45pm
The first leg resulted in a 2-1 win for Germany at the San Siro, thanks to second half goals from Tim Kleindienst and Leon Goretzka, after Newcastle United midfielder Sandro Tonali had given the Azzurri a ninth-minute lead.
Germany have been impressive since their Euro 2024 quarter-final exit to Spain, as they are unbeaten in their last seven matches, which saw them top League A Group A, ahead of the likes of the Netherlands, Hungary and Bosnia & Herzegovina with 14 points from six matches, while scoring 18 and conceding just four times.
Die Mannschaft’s biggest challenge in that group was overcoming the Netherlands, of which they took four points from Ronaldo Koeman’s men, having drawn 2-2 in Amsterdam, while winning 1-0 on home soil back in mid-October thanks to a goal from Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling.
Arguably their most impressive victory in the Group Stage, was their 7-0 thrashing of Bosnia & Herzegovina when Jamal Musiala, Kleindienst (2), Kai Havertz, Florian Wirtz (2) and Leroy Sané all got on the scoresheet.
In recent years, it has been said that Germany have lacked an out-and-out goalscorer, however, Kleindienst looks like he could be the man to fill that void, as he has fired in three goals in five international caps.
The 29-year-old has had a quick rise to success, as he played an instrumental role in Heidenheim’s 2. Bundesliga promotion campaign in 2022/23, scoring 25 times in 32 matches, before finding the back of the net 12 times in 33 Bundesliga appearances last campaign, prompting Borussia Mönchengladbach to make a move. Since moving to Borussia Park, Kliendeinst has fired in 15 goals in 25 league games.
On the other hand, Italy blew their chances of winning League A Group 2, as they suffered a 3-1 home loss to France on matchday six, seeing them lose out on top spot via goal difference. Luciano Spaletti’s men were unbeaten in their last five matches prior to that loss, now, they could be staring down the barrel of three defeats in a row.
Group A2 actually started off well for Italy, as they earned a memorable 3-1 away win in France thanks to goals by Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi and Giacomo Raspadori. Perhaps a game that Italy will regret in the group stage is their 2-2 home draw with Belgium, a game that saw France gain some vital ground on them, having race into a 2-0 lead via goals from Andrea Cambiaso and Mateo Retegui, before Lorenzo Pellegrini was sent off in the 40th-minute. The Azzurri ended up surrendering their lead as Belgium struck twice through goals by Maxim de Cuyper and Leandro Trossard.
Nations League - League A - Group 1 
